Mass Effect 3: With a Twist
by the undeniable 1
Summary: This is the follow up story to my first one Mass Effect 2: With a Twist. We join John and Joseph Shepard as they stand against the reapers for the final showdown. There will be drama, romance, not good with action so i keep it to a minimum, family issues, foul language, smut definitely so enjoy and i dont own any of this.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"How bad is it" Anderson asked.  
"Bad we've just lost contact with two of our deep space outposts. There's something massive on the long range scanners." Hackett informed him.  
"Is this what Shepard warned us about" Anderson asked.  
"I'd stake my life on it, I've sent word the fleets are mobilizing" Hackett said.  
"God help us all" Anderson said.

John was standing by the window watching a kid play around outside when James walked in.  
"Commander we gotta go" he said saluting Shepard.  
"Your not suppose to call me that anymore" John said following James out of the room.  
"Not suppose to salute you either" James said as they continued walking.  
"What's going on" John asked James noticing all of the personnel scrambling around.  
"They didn't say, just told me they needed you" he answered.  
Upon turning the corner they ran into Anderson.  
"Shepard" he yelled out shaking John's hand.  
"Anderson" he said "what's going on why's everyone in such a hurry" John asked.  
"Something bigs headed our way, Hackett's mobilizing the fleets" he informed him.  
"It's the reapers isn't it" John said.  
"We don't know that" Anderson replied.  
"What else could it be, the reapers are here and we're far from ready" John said following Anderson up the steps  
"Let's go and see the committee" Anderson said.  
"Unless we're planning on talking the reapers to death the committee is a waste of time" he said as Anderson went on ahead he stayed behind to talk to James for a moment.  
"Get a message to Joe, tell him It's time, be ready" John said turning as his name was called by a familiar voice.  
"Ashley"he said walking over to her holding back from pulling her into his arm's as their relationship was still not allowed due to alliance regulations.  
"Shepard" she said looking at him with mixed feelings.  
"Congratulations on the promotion, it would of been nice to hear it from you though" he said.  
"Yeah sorry about that" she said looking away.  
"It's ok Ash, I'm just glad your ok" he said  
"Shepard, come on" Anderson said as they walked to the room.  
"Good luck in there Shepard" Ashley said as he turned and gave her a nod and a smile.  
"You know the commander", James asked her walking over.  
"I don't know anymore, how do you know him" she asked James.  
"I know his brother" James said smiling.  
"Oh god, the psychopath, is he here" Ashley said looking around in fear of being yelled at for not giving John a hug and a kiss.  
"No, but I got a feeling he'll be around soon" James said giving her a disturbing grin.

John looked over the data pads placed in his hands.  
"You've brought me here to confirm what you already know, the reapers are here" he said as everybody began chattering nervously.  
"What do we do" one of the admirals said.  
"We fight or we die, don't pity them they won't pity you." He said.  
"That's it, what are we suppose to do with that" another admiral said outraged at the lack of intel.  
"Well I would of had more for you if you hadn't grounded me remember" he said folding his arms.  
"Sir we just lost contact with Lunar Base" an analyst informed Anderson.  
"The moon are they that close" Anderson said as they looked up to see a reaper ship lining up a shot on the room.  
"MOVE" John yelled running to get out of the way as the blast knocked him into a bench.  
Anderson helped him up and handed him a pistol as they made their way out of the room, running across the rooftops trying to get in contact with the Normandy. They fought their way through husks encountering a new species they called cannibals.  
"That's what happened to the batarians" Anderson asked firing from cover.  
"Yeah, now you understand why I blew up that relay, that'll be us soon if we can't stop this" John said using incineration attacks on the cannibals.  
They were almost out of ammo when the Normandy pulled in to rescue them. John jumped on board beckoning Anderson to follow.  
"Come on", he yelled to him.  
"I'm not going, you see those men down there, they need a leader",Anderson yelled to him.  
"I'm not leaving without you Anderson" John said.  
"Yes you are, get to the citadel we need help, get the council to send aid, we need every race and their fleets, get it done John" Anderson said.  
"I don't take orders from you anymore remember" John said looking Anderson in the eyes.  
"Consider yourself reinstated" Anderson said throwing John his dog tags.  
"I'll be back for you Anderson and I'll bring all the help I can, good luck" John said as Anderson turned and ran off.  
As they were pulling out John saw some survivor's boarding shuttles, he then saw the little boy who played outside of his window looking frightened climbing on board a shuttle. As the shuttle pulled off it was immediately destroyed by the reapers making John close his eyes and shake his head before walking off face contorted with rage.

Down in the shuttle bay John was checking his weapons as Vega began ranting asking a million questions.  
"What's going on , where's Anderson" he asked.  
"He stayed behind, he wants us to go to the citadel and get help for the fight" John said still fixing his weapons trying to shake off what just happened.  
"Bullshit he wouldn't tell us to leave, let me off-" he got cut off by an angry John.  
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STAND DOWN, YOU THINK I WANNA LEAVE, YOU THINK I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT, WE'LL BE KILLED IN MINUTES YOU STUPID IDIOT GET OUT OF MY FACE BEFORE I HAVE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER WILLIAMS LOCK YOU IN THE BRIG" John yelled releasing all of his pent up rage on James.  
"Maldito cobarde ( coward bastard )" James said walking away.  
"Sé lo que me llamó teniente, ¿quieres volver y decir a la cara ( I know what you called me lieutenant, you wanna come back and say it to my face )" John said turning and smirking at him "Did I forget to mention I spoke perfect Spanish" he informed the stunned lower ranking officer.  
"Ash, escort James out of my shuttle bay before I help him off my ship" John said as Joker informed him that admiral Hackett wanted to speak to him. Hackett told John to head to Mars and retrieve Liara, he believed that Liara found a weapon to defeat the reapers.  
"What does he expect us to find down there", Ashley asked.  
"I don't know, but I hope it's worth the detour, Anderson and those guys won't last too long down there without help" he replied putting on his armor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Jesus Christ Joseph will you stop squirming, it's really not that bad", Miranda said stitching up a wound on his head.  
"Not that bad, really Miranda, you tossed me out a damn window" he replied angrily.  
"I jumped out of it too, the fall was not that serious Joseph" she said nonchalantly.  
"You used me to break the damn glass Miranda" he said as she plucked another piece of glass out of his head, "Shit we had him, all you had to do was listen, you never listen to me, that's the problem now" he said still furious over what had just occurred.  
"No we didn't have him Joseph, he made you, Oriana blew your cover, if I hadn't come in you would be strapped to a table right now having who knows what done to you" she said applying medigel to the wounds.  
While gathering intel in the search for their child, Miranda had lost contact with Oriana. That was something that never happened so it gave Miranda cause to worry that her father may have found her. So they decided that Joseph should go see Henry Lawson for that job he promised him several years ago.

**A few days ago**

_"Joseph had got in contact with Mr. Lawson and set up a meeting at his private estate to discuss the terms of his employment. He arrived wearing a sharp black suit, with a black shirt and red tie. He was escorted into the office by Henry's security while Miranda followed using his tactical cloak._  
_"Ah Joseph, how wonderful it is to meet you again" Henry said standing up to shake Joe's hand._  
_"Likewise Mr. Lawson" he said taking his hand._  
_"Henry please, no need to be so formal Joseph. The job is yours and I don't look at this as a formal setting" Henry informed pouring himself and Joe a drink._  
_"So how's business sir, if I may ask" Joe said taking the drink._  
_"Business is very well, I'm actually working on a special project right now but I'm not at liberty to speak of it in detail yet. But trust me my name will be remembered because of it" he said proudly._  
_"I'm glad to hear it, that means unemployment will no longer be an issue to me", Joe joked making Henry laugh. Miranda never really saw her father laugh, he never really sat and spoke with her the way he did with Joseph. It made her jealous though she would never admit it out loud._  
_"How about a tour of the house, then Joseph" Henry said standing._  
_"Absolutely sir" Joe said standing and following Henry out of the room._  
_"I'll introduce you to my children, come" Henry said leading Joe to a room upstairs. The door opened revealing a boy about the age of four._  
_"Joseph, come here I would like you to meet someone" Henry said to the boy as he stood walking over to Henry and Joe. He had Miranda's striking features and hair color with Joseph's sharp grey eyes. He bent down to the boy giving him a friendly smile._  
_"Hi, my names Joseph too, but you can call me Shepard" Joe said to the little boy._  
_"I'm Joseph Lawson, it's a pleasure to meet you sir", little Joseph said to his biological father shaking his hand._  
_"He seems really smart for a four year old, no broken sentences, perfect English, how is that possible" Joe said in amazement looking at Henry._  
_"Very simple experiments done to him when he was still a fetus, no pain at all" Henry explained in detail." Run along now Joseph, I'll be back to check on you soon" Henry said leading Joe out of the room._  
_"He seems like a really good kid sir your lucky to have him" Joe said giving his son one last look before following._  
_"Yes he is, now on to my daughter" Henry said walking to the next room that was locked only to be opened by Henry himself. The door opened revealing Oriana standing by a window looking pitiful._  
_"Oriana come and meet Joseph" Henry said to her as Joe stepped in the room._  
_"Joe" Oriana said looking at him. "You bastard, Miri was right, you set me up" she yelled running to attack Joe._  
_"Stop this foolishness Oriana" Henry said in a threatening voice. "How do you know my daughter Joseph" Henry asked._  
_"Sir, I've never met this girl a day in my life, although she does look familiar to me, I can't remember where" Joe said trying to sneakily throw Oriana signals to shut up._  
_"You lying bastard" she yelled not getting the hint. "Where's Miranda what did you do to her you son of a bitch" she said with tears in her eye's._  
_"Ms. I'm sorry but I've been incarcerated for the past seven year's, I don't know of this Miranda you speak of" Joe said looking her in the eye's._  
_Henry looked between Joe and Oriana multiple times. He looked as if he believed Joseph and was beginning to relax when Miranda uncloaked aiming a gun at Henry._  
_"Miri" Oriana yelled excitedly._  
_"Miranda how the hell did you get in here, it was you" he said pointing at Joseph. "I should have known, there was no other way she could conceive without your DNA" Henry said backing away from Miranda._  
_"What are you talking about" Miranda asked still aiming at him finger on the trigger._  
_"Ah you still don't remember, let me ask you child, has sex ever been uncomfortable for you, I'm positive it hasn't" he said smirking at her._  
_"You raped me and wiped my memory, you son of a bitch" she said disgusted and angry._  
_"No I didn't rape you child, he did" Henry said looking at Joe._  
_"I've never raped anyone in my life, your lying, Miranda shoot him" Joe said looking at Miranda as she looked at him in shock._  
_"Don't be so shocked Miranda, you raped him too, you raped each other" Henry said laughing. He was stalling to give his guards time to get to him._  
_"Miranda he's trying to buy time if your gonna shoot him shoot him" Joe yelled to her as she stood there looking confused._  
_"Neither of you remember because I made it that way, how much do you remember of the last party I held in New York before you decided to run away Miranda, his poisonous influence no doubt", Henry asked his daughter smiling._  
_"I don't remember anything" she said._  
_"And you Joseph, what do you remember of our first meeting" Henry asked looking at Joe._  
_"All I remember is meeting you" he answered. "Miranda we have to go now, I'm seeing guards closing in on our position" Joe said heading for the door seeing the guards come up the stairs turning back into the room closing the door and locking it._  
_"She doesn't want to go Joseph she wants to know more, put down the gun child and talk with your father" Henry said taking a seat._  
_"Miranda no, let's go now, we're going to die" Joe said beginning to panic._  
_"Don't you wanna know what happened Miranda, why you were able to concieve that child when every doctor you see confirms your infertility, why you desire his presence when your normally such an emotionally closed off person. And you Joseph, wouldn't you like to know why you allow her to do things to you that would cost others their life without a moment's hesitation, why you have such a strong need to protect her" Henry said relaxing in the comfort of the information time bomb he held. "It's that way because I wanted it that way, now you two insufferable children stop this madness and behave for your father, I see those ring outlines on your fingers" Henry said observing both of them._  
_"Miranda get down" Joe yelled pushing her to the ground as gunfire erupted through the door, he could hear Henry yelling for his guards to stop firing, he had them where he wanted them._  
_"Joseph, he was about to tell me" she said looking at him from behind the table they were using as cover._  
_"Not today, we have to find a way out of here, or that til death do us part is coming real soon " Joe said looking around for any exit._  
_"I see one, but your not going to like it",Miranda said _  
_"I don't care let's just not die" Joe said firing over the table._  
_She threw a warp into the ceiling bringing it down in front of them grabbing Joseph running towards the window pushing him through first as they dropped down landing in Henry Lawson's pool._

**Present Time**

"Miranda he was falling for it, all you had to do was let it play out, but no you rushed in half cocked, then you push me through a fucking window that you could of shot open, you had a fucking gun Miranda. Then you dont take the fucking shot when I tell you to, what the hell Miranda, you fucked up and you almost got you, me, and Oriana killed" Joe said getting up walking away from her to the bathroom.  
"Joseph, I want to know what he was talking about" she said walking behind him laying her head on his back.  
"I don't, I don't wanna know anything that's gonna make me look at you in a fucked up way Miranda, let it go" he said turning to her.  
"We deserve to know Joseph, I deserve to know damnt, what he did to me" she said pulling away from him.  
"I wanna know how he took a fetus and turned it into a damn four year old genius, that kid is too smart, but I know he's ours, it's fucking weird" Joe said looking puzzled.  
"Joseph, he created me, trust me that was easy what he did to our son" she said laying her head on his chest.  
"We'll get them back, if he wanted to kill them he would have already, I need you to focus and relax, when we're out there I don't need Miranda watching my back she's too emotional, I need Operative fucking Lawson, is that understood", He said looking her in her eye's.  
"Yes Joey, and I'm sorry about the window, and ruining your suit, that your shockingly not complaining about wearing for once" she said raising an eyebrow.  
"Hey I never said I didn't like suits, I said I didn't like monkey suits, there's a difference" he said beginning to remove his destroyed clothing.  
"I'm gonna take a shower, are you coming" she asked seductively.  
"Nah, I think I'm just gonna go lay down, see if there's any news on about Johnny" he said placing a kiss on her forehead walking out of the bathroom.  
Joseph went and laid on the sofa in the living room of their fifth safe house over the past six months. He turned on the screen to see news that earth was attacked by the reapers. He jumped off the sofa running into the bathroom screaming Miranda's name ripping back the shower curtain scaring the hell out of her.  
"Earth just got attacked by the reapers, their destroying everything" he said looking at her with eyes full of worry.  
"Joseph I'm sure he got out in time" she said getting out of the shower putting on her robe.  
"What if he didn't Miranda" Joe said walking into the living room starting up the terminal they shared sending a message to John and reading one from James.  
"John says it's time and to get ready" he said turning and looking Miranda in the eye's.  
"You do what's important to you and I'll do the same" she said to him before walking off into the bedroom. She spent many nights alone in here, he told her it was because he needed to keep watch while she slept but she knew it was because he still hadn't forgiven her for what happened on Illium. Their relationship hadn't been the same since that day he barely touched her and when he did it was only to reassure her that he still cared. He walked into the room behind her sitting on the bed next to her as she laid with her back turned to him.  
"Miri" he said placing his hand on the small of her back.  
"Don't Joseph, you don't need to explain yourself to me, I know John needs your help, and if you didn't go with him you'd spend every second worrying about him." She said turning to him "Do what you gotta do" before turning back over closing her eye's. She felt his body press up against her and his arms wrap around her waist as he held her close to him.  
"You don't need to do this Joseph, I know your not comfortable in this bed with me that's why your barely in here, you don't have to force yourself into affection I'm not a child Joseph" she said not even turning to him. He rolled her over looking in her eye's placing a hand on her cheek leaning down to kiss her. He hadn't kissed her like that since before they were married, it took her breath away as she looked up in his eye's.  
"If I don't go with you I'll spend every second wondering if your ok" he said stroking her cheek looking in her eye's kissing her again laying his head in the crook of her neck.  
"But you'll still board the Normandy when John gets to the citadel, and you can't tell me I'm lying Joseph" she said making him look her in the eyes.  
"Miranda I love you, if you want me to stay then I'll stay baby, if you need me with you then I'll be with you" he said sitting up as she stood up.  
"Then act like it Joseph, act like you want to be with me you hardly look at me , you barely touch me, if we didn't spend every hour of every day together I would think you were having an affair" she said folding her arms looking away from him.  
"Hey, come here" he said softly looking up at her.  
"No Joey, just go lay on the sofa like you always do" she said still not looking at him.  
He stood up walking over to her slowly removing her robe placing soft kisses on her neck. She turned to him as he caught her lips for a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him back.  
"Make love to me Joseph, the way you use to" she said looking down. He lifted her chin kissing her lips again picking her up carrying her to the bed bridal style, lips still locked. He made love to her over and over again that night showing her exactly how he felt about her until their bodies reached exhaustion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Normandy arrived on Mars, John took a shuttle down with James and Ashley to investigate. Joker informed them of a storm incoming so they had to move quickly. They made their way down finding the bodies of some dead soldiers. They advanced further to see some alliance personnel surrounded by Cerberus soldier's. They tried to quickly take the soldier's out to save the innocents but they were too slow.  
"What the hell is Cerberus doing here" John asked.  
"You mean you don't know" Ashley said.  
"How the hell would I know what they're doing here" he asked her a little insulted by the insinuation as they came across another group of Cerberus troops taking them out quick before entering the elevator to the archives.

"I need answers Shepard" Ashley said looking at him.  
"Ash" he said exasperated.  
"Don't Ash me, why is Cerberus here" she said accusingly.  
"I don't know what they're doing here Ash, I haven't had contact with Cerberus since I shut down project overlord" he said.  
"The commander's been under constant surveillance since he got back to earth, there's no way he's spoken to anyone within Cerberus" James explained.  
"Isn't your brother married to a Cerberus operative, guilt by association" she said raising an eyebrow. That piece of information caught James off guard, he decided to shut up after that.  
"Joseph hates Cerberus, he's been killing off their guys for the past six months with his 'former' Cerberus operative wife. Assuming makes an ass out of you Ash, you know nothing about my brother don't judge him, and your suppose to know me better than anyone" John said removing his helmet looking in her eye's.  
"I'm sorry Shepard, I just-" she began to say.  
"Save it Ash we have more important business to take care of right now" he said stepping off the lift.  
They heard movement and gunfire inside the vents, they readied weapons to see Liara jump out putting two Cerberus troops in a singularity before executing both of them. James aimed his weapon at her ready to fire as John stopped him.  
"Easy lieutenant, she's with us" John said walking over to give Liara a hug.  
"Shepard thank the goddess your ok, I'm sorry about earth" she said looking down.  
"Yeah it was hard leaving"Ashley said walking over.  
"Ashley, I'm sorry" Liara said.  
"So Hackett said you found something to help us win this thing"John said getting back in topic.  
"Yes, it is a blueprint for a Prothean device, I'm not sure what it will do but it's our best chance, it is located in the archives" she said.  
"So it's a race to the archive's then" James said.  
"Not for you, get back to the shuttle, I need you to be waiting if Cerberus gets the drop on us" John said sending James back to the shuttle as he, Ashley, and Liara prepared for the approaching Cerberus troops.

They fought they're way into a security room watching back the feeds seeing a familiar looking woman in a cat suit running around the facility.  
"I know that's not who I think it is" Ashley said angrily.  
"Liara please tell me that's not who it looks like" John said.  
"No that is not Miranda, that's Dr. Eva Core, Miranda hasn't been seen without Joseph for the past three months" she informed seeing them noticeably relax. Miranda may not have had Cerberus resources any longer but that didn't make her any less dangerous or formidable.  
"Come on, let's keep moving" John said as they fought their way further into the facility coming up on another security room, watching back the footage showing Dr. Eva killing the guards and venting the oxygen from the facility.  
"Now we know who killed the scientists" John said as they fought their way to the lift tricking the Cerberus troopers into sending over another shuttle to pick them up. They killed all the troopers reaching the archives so Liara could download the data they needed. The Illusive Man appeared via hologram distracting Liara and Shepard. Telling Shepard of his idiotic plan to control the reapers. Looking at him Shepard began to realize that TIM had implanted himself with reaper tech like an idiot. As he disappeared Ashley called out to John as he saw her chasing Dr. Eva around the room running towards the exit as he and Liara joined the pursuit.  
"Shepard she has the data" Liara yelled out as they ran.  
John kicked into overdrive pushing his upgrades for all they were worth hot on Eva's heels as she launched incineration attacks at him. Jumping into a shuttle making a get away. Leaving John looking somewhat defeated as James flew in with the shuttle crashing it into Dr. Eva's making the trio dodge for safety.  
"We need that data" Liara said as Ashley helped her up.  
They heard a loud banging coming from the Cerberus shuttle as Dr. Eva's synthetic body emerged. Ashley threw Liara out of the way and began firing on the doctor. She quickly disarmed Ashley lifting her off her feet as John and James ran over finding Ashley completely at the mercy of the Cerberus synthetic.  
"Orders" Dr. Eva asked the Illusive Man.  
"Finish her" he said coldly as she began slamming Ashley into the side of the shuttle.  
"BRING HER DOWN" John yelled as he and James began letting off round after round into the approaching synthetic. When she finally dropped John ran over to Ashley's unmoving body.  
"James grab that thing" he ordered as James picked up the synthetic. John scooped Ashley into his arms carrying her to the ship.  
"Keep breathing Ash, I've got you, keep fighting baby, please" he said rushing her to the med bay laying her down removing her helmet carefully.  
"Ashley needs medical attention, we need to leave the Sol system" Liara said snapping John out of his stupor.  
"Joker, get us to the citadel, double time" he said leaving the room to remove his armor.

John went up to his cabin taking off the armor he saw a message from his brother. He quickly replied telling him that he was ok and was en route to the citadel. He then went down to brief Admiral Hackett of what happened on Mars and that the Illusive Man was possibly indoctrinated. Hackett told him that his father was called back into service to command his old ship the Orizaba and that his mother and niece were safe on the citadel. After the debriefing John decided to go up to his cabin for a short nap after checking on Ashley one more time.

He woke up from a disturbing nightmare he was having, walking to the bathroom in his cabin to wash his face as he heard a knock in the door. It was Liara, she came up to check on him and catch up for a while, but they were interrupted by Specialist Traynor. She gave John a tour of the Normandy showing him the new additions that were made during the retrofits. After she left John decided to try and rest again until they got to the citadel.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Joey" Miranda said to her husband laying on his chest.  
"Yes Miri" he replied.  
"I don't want you to go" she said wrapping her arms around him.  
"Then I won't go" he said kissing her head.  
"I know John needs you, but I need you too" she told him listening to his heart beat through his chest.  
"I know baby, I'm with you all the way, ok" he said reassuringly.  
"Ok, so your going to tell him today when he arrives" she asked.  
"Yeah, I should actually get ready to go see him they'll be here in a few hours" he said detaching himself from his wife, getting up to shower.  
"You want me to come with you" she asked as he stepped into the shower.  
"Always" he replied giving her a smile pulling her into the shower with him.

They stood by the docking bay both donning civilian clothes instead of their normal choices of attire. They watched as the Normandy pulled into dock connecting with the citadel. They then saw hospital personnel standing by the docking bay with a stretcher waiting. John carried Ashley off the ship handing her over to the doctor's quickly as they rushed her to the elevator.  
"Where are you taking her" John asked.  
"Huerta Memorial, best hospital on the citadel" one of the physician's yelled as Bailey approached.  
"Captain Bailey good to see you again" John said shaking Bailey's hand.  
"You too but it's commander now" Bailey informed.  
"Congratulations" John said confusingly.  
"Yeah now I get to escort around politician's and dignitaries, it's all bureaucratic bullshit" he said.  
"I need to see the council" he told Bailey.  
"Yeah they actually sent me to get you, but if you wanna go check on your friend they can wait a bit" Bailey said before leaving John to decide.  
"I'll go ahead with him and get the council up to speed" Liara said.  
"Alright, guess it's just me and you James...James" John looked around for his missing lieutenant finding him in the corner of the docking bay arm wrestling his brother as Miranda stood on the side shaking her head.  
He walked over to Miranda "What the hell are these two doing" he asked.  
"Well this unidentified muscle head came over and took a swing at Joseph, I was about to warp his ass into next week when I saw the two of them shaking hands, and now they're arm wrestling. Joseph has very strange friends", she said looking up at John.  
"Ha you think James is strange you've clearly never met Brandon" he answered in agreement with her observation.  
"What happened to Ashley, is she going to be ok" she asked.  
"We were attacked by a Cerberus synthetic on Mars, she banged Ash up real good but I'm hopeful on her chances of pulling through" he told her. "How are you two doing, ever since...well you know" he asked looking her in her eyes, he hadn't forgiven her for the attempt fully either.  
"We're getting better day by day" she informed him as they watched Joe and James struggle to pin each others arm down.  
"You know I need him right" he said to her " I'm down Ashley, and Liara needs to keep researching that Prothean device, I need more support , I could use you too believe it or not, you were always solid under fire. And Cerberus has decided to include themselves into this little showdown we're having with the reapers. I could use your knowledge to give us an edge over them." He said looking at her pleadingly.  
"John we would love to help you, but some things have come to light that we can't walk away from, and my father has Oriana, I can't leave her in his clutches I told you what he was like" she told him sincerely.  
"I'll help, and Liara can use her shadow broker intel to help you find your father and Oriana and whatever else you need resources to look into. Just think about it ok, I know he won't come without you and I don't blame him, but think about it, tell him I'll be back in a few I'm gonna go check on Ash" John said before walking away.  
"Miri, can you come here for a second please", Joe said still struggling to get James' arm down. "James have you met my wife Miranda", Joe said introducing the two.  
"No I haven't, pleasure to me-" he stopped to stare at Miranda's captivating beauty as she said hello and Joe pinned his arm to the down.  
"Haha, two thousand creds, pay up rookie, the hot wife trick always works" Joe said as James transferred the credits to his omni tool.  
"What do you mean always works Joseph, how many hot wives do you have" she said folding her arms raising an eyebrow.  
"Just you my one and only love" he said trying to smooth talk his way out of the situation.  
"Usted bastardo infiel ( You cheating bastard) " James said smiling at Joe.  
"James me conoce, yo juego para ganar ( You know me James, I play to win)", Joe replied shaking James' hand one more time  
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish" Miranda looked up at him surprised.  
"I minored in language and dialect in school, I speak Spanish, Italian, French, and a little Polish" he replied grinning at her.  
"Ok, you are definitely speaking to me in a different language the next time we have sex" she said walking away.  
"You got it babe if you speak Polish to me, you make that language sound so sexy" he said giving James a wink before running to catch up with his wife.  
"So where did John go and what happened to Ash, I kinda got caught up with James it has been about ten years since I've last seen him" Joe explained as Miranda filled him in on everything John told her.

They sat down at Apollo's Cafe to have a bite to eat and discuss their next move.  
"So your saying you wanna go with John now" Joe asked taking a bite of his burger.  
"Yeah, he sounds so dire, like he won't make it without you, and he had a point about Liara's resources helping us, which brings me to my next question" she said looking at him like she was about to ask him something big.  
"Oh boy I know that look, that's the same look you had on when you wanted me to seduce that gay bartender to get him outside" he said looking at her shifty eyed.  
"It's nothing like that I don't need you to seduce anyone, I need you to agree to let someone do something to you" she said slowly gauging his reaction before continuing.  
"Oh god, I'm not gonna like this am I" he said putting his head down folding his arms. "What do you want Miranda" he asked.  
"I want you to meld with Liara if she'll agree to it, seeing as she has a crush on you I'm sure she won't object much" she said quickly.  
"What the hell, Miranda why would you want me to meld with Liara, isn't that like cheating on you" he said in a shocked tone.  
"I want to know what happened that night, I can't remember any of it but you remember being there, it would be easier for her to tap into it from your mind than mine" she explained.  
"Miranda I don't want to remember that, what if I forced myself on you or something like that or I hit you, I don't wanna know" he said looking away.  
"Joseph I do, I have a right to know what happened that night, and if you feel like you did something of that nature then you owe me" she said getting upset.  
"You really gonna pull that card on me Miranda, that's fucked up, you know what fine whatever you want, I hope your happy with whatever she finds" he said getting up walking away from the table. "Oh and if Liara decides to 'accidentally' impregnate herself during this, then that's on you too", he yelled back to her walking up the stairs to catch the elevator.

John visited Ashley and spoke to the council, they informed him that they would not be sending any aid to earth because the reapers were closing in on their borders. Councillor Sparatus came to see him in councillor Udina's office. He told John to go to Palaven and extract Primarch Fedorian to gain the turian support. John agreed heading back to the Normandy finding Joe and Miranda waiting at the docking bay for him looking very unhappy with each other.  
"What did I miss" John asked looking between the two.  
"Later Johnny, what's the situation" Joe asked.  
"We're going to Palaven, extraction mission, you guys ready to roll" he asked.  
"Yeah let's go" Joe said picking up his and Miranda's bags boarding the ship.  
"Ummm ok, well you guys can take the starboard observation room if your rooming together, Liara took your old office for space reasons, sorry Miranda" John said as they walked through the CIC with every male member of the crew and Traynor staring at Miranda.  
"It's fine commander, is Liara in there now I actually need to speak with her" she asked.  
"Yeah I believe so" he told her as she stepped onto the elevator taking it down.  
"John you like this crew" Joe asked.  
"I don't know much about em" he said genuinely.  
"Good because the next one I catch staring at my wife like a PIECE OF FUCKING MEAT IS GOING OUT THE AIRLOCK" he yelled making everyone in the CIC flinch and divert eye contact.  
"Haha, still got it huh Commander" he said smiling at his brother.  
"Sure do Joey come on, drop the bags off and meet me in the lounge so you can brief me on this situation Miranda was telling me about" John said as they stepped into the elevator.

A/N:  
Joseph and James are speaking Spanish in case you didn't know.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the late uppdate lot going on in life right now but Merry Christmas and i got three new chapters for you. Enjoy and I don't own any of this**

**Chapter 5**

"Liara, can I speak to you for a moment" Miranda said stepping into the office.  
"Certainly Miranda, what can I do for you" she asked the former Cerberus operative.  
"John told me you could help me with a few things so I'm here to see if you will" Miranda said uncomfortably, she never liked asking anyone for help. Joe was the only person she ever allowed herself to be that vulnerable with.  
"Of course I'll help you Miranda, have a seat and tell me what I can do" Liara said genuinely. Miranda sat and began informing Liara of Oriana and the baby, giving her the details of her and Joseph's recent run in with Henry Lawson and the secret she wanted to uncover. Liara agreed to everything expect the meld with Joseph.  
"Miranda I'm not sure if that would be a good idea" she told her.  
"Why do you say that Dr. T'Soni, afraid you don't have the skill to extract the information" Miranda asked raising an eyebrow.  
"It's not that, it's that I will have to comb through all of Joseph's memories to reach that one, he may have more than one bad memory suppressed that could come to light and it may not affect him in the best way, and sexual memories...accidents happen sometimes when you go into them" Liara said shifting uncomfortably.  
"So you think melding with Joseph could result in a child?" She asked genuinely.  
"It is possible, I am sorry if that is not what you wanted to hear, and he may not agree to having his mind probed for more than that one thing, he would need to know the risks if we are to go through with this" she explained.  
"I'll speak to him, thank you Liara, for everything" Miranda said before getting up and leaving.  
"EDI, where is Joseph" she asked the AI.  
"Dr. Shepard is in the lounge with the commander" EDI answered.  
"Thank you EDI, can you inform him that I wish to speak to him as soon as possible" she asked her.  
"Of course Operative Shepard, logging you out" EDI said updating Miranda with her new name.

"So let me get this straight, the Illusive Man took the baby Miranda aborted, saved it, and gave it to her father." John said trying to get the facts straight.  
"Yup" Joe said taking a swig of his beer.  
"So now there's a four year old mixture of you and Miranda running around somewhere in the galaxy" John said again making sure he was correct.  
"Yup, more Miranda less me, down to the damn accent...I have a son with an Australian accent" Joe laughed at the thought.  
"How the fuck did he make it four that quick" John said genuinely puzzled.  
"He John he, and he has a name" Joe said quickly correcting his brother.  
"Sorry, how did Miranda's father make him four that quick" John said waiting for his brother to answer.  
"How the fuck should I know I'm not a scientist" Joe replied looking at John like an idiot.  
"Well excuse me" John said rolling his eyes at his brother "what's his name" John asked.  
"Joseph" Joe replied waiting for John to laugh.  
"Wait a minute, the Illusive Man gave Miranda's father no information about you and he still fucks up and names the kid after you" John said before his uncontrollable laughter flooded the room.  
"Yeah yeah laugh it up douchebag" Joe said glaring at his brother.  
"Damn, anyway, did you tell mom and Jess yet" John asked.  
"No, I've been keeping my distance, it's safer for both of them that way" he told John looking away.  
"If I get em over the QEC would you wanna talk to them" he asked.  
"Of course, I miss my baby like hell Johnny" Joe said looking at his brother.  
"Alright I'll make it happen, so what's this other thing about" John asked referring to the past.  
"Well according to Mr. Lawson Miranda and I have met before and we got to know each other very well if you get what I mean, so now she wants Liara to mind fuck me to find out what happened. Neither one of us remember a thing, but Oriana always looked familiar to me, they are genetic twins so Miranda is pretty much a 36 year old Oriana." Joe said nonchalantly.  
"Miranda's 36" John asked in shock.  
"Yeah just turned, but don't tell her I told you that" Joe said not wanting to deal with his wife over revealing her age.  
"Damn if she doesn't look a day over 25, I wonder if her father experiments on old people, shit you don't look your age either Joe" John said rubbing the minor amount of wrinkles in his skin.  
"I don't think she'd find that funny if you asked John, and that's because I don't have as much on my plate as you do" Joe said shaking his head at his brother.  
"Dr. Shepard" EDI's voice came through.  
"Yes EDI dear" he replied.  
"Operative Shepard would like to speak to you in the starboard observation room" she informed him.  
"Ok, how are you dear" he asked EDI.  
"Besides that nasty computer virus I contracted from Legion the last time he was on board, very well Dr. Shepard" she told him.  
John and Joe looked at each other in shock for a moment.  
"That was a joke" she said.  
"Hahaha you got me, that was a good one EDI, oh and stop calling me Dr. please" Joe said laughing his ass off before getting up to go meet Miranda.  
"Later Johnny" he said exiting the room.

"You wanted to see me Operative Shepard" Joe said stepping into the starboard observation room folding his arms.  
"Yes Dr. Shepard, Liara said she would do it but only if you agreed to the risks" Miranda explained.  
"What risks?" He asked staring into those blue pools she had for eyes.  
"She said that she would have to sift through your memories to get to that one, all of them leading up to it, and ones you may find significant and some others you may have suppressed" she informed him.  
"Do you feel that me going through that is worth finding out what you wanna know?" He asked genuinely.  
"Honestly no, I do wanna know but if you don't want her in there that deep then I won't make you feel bad about not doing it" she said looking down.  
"That was the right answer, I will go through this for you" he said leaning up against the wall.  
"Thank you Joseph, this means a lot to me" she said genuinely walking over to him putting her arms around his neck.  
"You caring about how this would make me feel means a lot to me" he told her wrapping his arms around her waist kissing her lips. "That's all I wanted you to do, was think about how I feel for once" he said putting his forehead to hers.  
"I didn't think big bad Joseph Shepard had feelings" she said jokingly.  
"Hey I have a sensitive side too, I thought you liked my sensitive side" he said feigning hurt.  
"I do like your sensitive side, but I love your aggressive side" she said pulling his shirt off over his head.  
"Oh is that right" he said pushing her up against the wall.  
"Mmmhmmm" she said pulling at his belt as he unbuttoned her shirt taking it off.  
"Mmmmm well I do love your controlling side in the bedroom or the starboard observation room to be politically correct" he said as she pulled his pants down to his ankles grabbing his hardening wood through his boxers.  
"Mmmmm, just how I like it" she said looking down at his now fully erect penis pulling his boxers off.  
"Your wearing too much clothes I don't think this is fair" he said as she started stroking him.  
"Well then fix it, Dr. Shepard" she said stepping back as he closed in on her to finish stripping her of her clothing.  
"Now that's better" he said admiring her perfect body.  
"Get over here Joseph" she said as he lifted her up holding her as she slid down his member causing them both to moan in pleasure.  
Kissing and biting at each others lips as he drilled into her hard and fast against the wall. "Ahhhh, oh god" she moaned as she pushed him to the floor with her biotics pulling his hair and riding him wildly. If the room wasn't soundproofed by Joseph's dampening field the whole ship would have heard their sounds of pleasure. She rode him hard and fast slamming his body into the floor each time she came down as he began to thrust up into her. "Ahhhh Joey don't stop, please don't stop" she screamed slamming down to meet his thrusts causing them both to scream louder. This went on for at least an hour before they were both too drained to move.  
"God, I love you Joseph" she said collapsing on his chest kissing all over it.  
"Mmmmm I love you too Miranda" he said giving her back side a smack and a squeeze.  
"Mmmm don't start me again Joey" she said grabbing his face kissing him passionately.  
"Don't start you, your the one that's kissing all over me like a horny teenager, thank you" he said chuckling.  
"You bring out the worst in me, I can't explain why I desire you this way" she said laying her head on his chest.  
"If I knew baby I would tell you, you bring it out in me too, no matter how mad you make me I can't keep my hands off of you" he reassured her. "Your father was right, let's ask EDI" he suggested "Hey EDI",Joe yelled.  
"Yes Dr. Shepard" she answered.  
"What can you read off of mine and Miranda's body signatures from before and now" he asked her.  
"From when you were first on board the Normandy SR2 until now, I have detected increased heat signatures in erogenous zones every time you two are in close proximity of each other and your release of pheromones are an exact match, in short you are designed to attract each other" she explained.  
"So basically he designed you to end up with a candidate of his choosing, I bet he's regretting that one as we speak" Joe said laughing.  
"Dr. Shepard records in history from before your arrest show you to have an I.Q. of 210, a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science, and a high paying job at the leading technological firm today, in human terms you were quite the catch" she said.  
"Were, gee thanks EDI for making me feel like shit and you forgot about my masters in electrical science and engineering" he said sarcastically.  
"I did not mean to offend you Joseph" she apologized.  
"It's fine EDI, thanks for the info and stop calling me doctor" he said.  
"Very well logging you out" she said.  
"I didn't know you had a masters degree as well in another subject" Miranda said looking at Joseph with a raised eyebrow.  
"Did you really hate me that much that you just disregarded my file immediately, it was all in there Miranda" he said looking back at her.  
"Well I didn't think it was relevant...-wait, how did you know I had your file and didn't open it" she said sitting up to look at him as he rolled over pretending to snore."You hacked my computer terminal you jerk" she said slapping his arm.  
"If you would have read my file you would have known I was able to do that" he said laughing at her as she continued hitting him.  
"God your insufferable, anyway, why would he do that" Miranda said puzzled getting back on subject.  
"To get the perfect child" Joseph said as a lightbulb went off in his head. "It's Joseph" he said  
"I'm not following" Miranda said looking up at him confused.  
"He designed you but sorry babe, you weren't perfect somewhere in there he made a mistake, but your still a genius and I'm a tech genius, when we mix with a little tweaking you'll end up with Joseph" he said looking at her "Miranda he wanted our child, the Illusive dick set this up, you and me, that's why he sent you to get me from the island, he wasn't counting on the lack of trust between us or your hate for pet names to make that backfire, this wasn't a mistake Miranda, this was a trap, I'm sorry" he explained to her.  
She quickly disconnected herself from Joseph's body climbing off of him looking at him.  
"He wanted this" she said looking at the man she married.  
"Yes, well that's what I deduce from all of this, you don't think it happened too fast, I spent four years with Ana before I even thought about marrying her, I dated you for about six months before we got married, I don't even think about cheating on you ever. This doesn't seem strange to you, and look at you before it kicked in good you were cold, mean, stuck up, self centered and now your nothing like your normal self. You haven't noticed your strange change of behavior" he asked looking in her eye's.  
"I think I need a minute to process this, can you go" she said covering herself up.  
"Miranda are you serious, I'm your husband" he said sitting up to look at her.  
"Joseph I just need to be alone right now please" she said looking away from him holding back her tears. No matter how hard she tried to break away from her father, he still controlled the most important aspects of her life. She thought she loved Joseph because her father would disapprove when in fact he was his choice.  
"Ok babe" he said leaning in to kiss her head, as she shyed away from it lightly. He put his clothes on leaving the room heading up to John's room to tell him what happened.

"So she just went all frigid on you like that" John asked.  
"Yeah we just had sex a minute ago and then boom Ice Queen" Joe explained shaking his head.  
"She'll be fine just give her a minute" John said placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.  
"Guess I'm moving back in with you until Ash comes back" Joe said  
"You know your always welcome Joey even when Ash comes back, you can stay up here as long as you like" John said patting his brother on the back.  
"Thanks John" Joe said laying back on the sofa resting up for Palaven.

**A/N: For those of you who have noticed that Miranda wasn't written like Miranda and she seemed out of character in my story it was never because I couldn't write Miranda, it's because she's not the normal Miranda ahhhh a twist lmao.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"James and Joe let's move, Miranda you resume your post as my XO the ship is yours until we return" John said as everybody got ready.  
"Hey Machine Gun, you not wearing any armor" James asked.  
"Why would I put armor on all of this" Joe said taking off his shirt flexing receiving a few joking cat calls from the male crew down in the shuttle bay and some roaming eyes from the few women crew members down there. Miranda gave him the look of death as he put his shirt back on. "No, but seriously it fucks with my biotics, so no I don't wear armor Jimmy" Joe informed him.  
"You two girl's ready, maybe I should have brought Miranda and Liara with me, probably would of been heading back by now, get your asses on the shuttle" John ordered as Joe and James glared at the few crew members dumb enough to laugh while boarding the shuttle.

They landed on Palaven making their way to the first security checkpoint taking out husks in the process. John approached the turian in charge to find out about Primarch Fedorian.  
"Commander Shepard Alliance Navy, you in charge here" John asked the turian.  
"Yes sir, General Corinthus, they told me you were coming I didn't believe it" Corinthus said.  
"I'm here to extract Primarch Fedorian he's needed at a war summit between the species" John explained.  
"Fedorian is dead, I'm not sure who the new Primarch is" Corinthus informed.  
"How do we find out" John asked.  
"I need to get in touch with the hierarchy, if anybody's still alive, but our towers are down, there's no way to get a message off" Corinthus explained.  
"We'll get the tower's up, you keep trying to find me that Primarch" John said walking away as he, Joe, and James made their way to the communications tower. John and James took down waves of husks as Joe went up to repair the tower. Joe fixed the comms climbing down to help John and James push back the husks. They returned to Corinthus in hopes he had news on the Primarch.  
"Commander, thank you for repairing the tower, I got in touch with command, your looking for General Adrien Victus" Corinthus explained.  
"Any idea where we can find him" John asked.  
"I was with him about an hour ago, don't worry Shepard we'll find your Primarch" Garrus said walking up.  
"Vakarian sir, I didn't know you were here" Corinthus said saluting Garrus.  
"Garrus, glad your ugly ass is still alive" John said shaking Garrus' talons.  
"Joseph" Garrus said acknowledging him.  
"Two words scar face, bow-tie, I'll never forgive you for that one" Joe said in mock anger.  
"Right then, how is our favorite Cerberus operative" Garrus asked.  
"Commander, do you read me" Miranda yelled into the comm.  
"Speak of the Australian devil" Joe said.  
"Yeah Miranda stop yelling what's wrong" he asked.  
"There's something wrong with EDI, tell Joseph to get his ass back here now, he's our best tech expert on board, I can't reach him through his comm, he has some ridiculous song set to play when Liara or I tap into his comm" she explained annoyed.  
"Joey really, at a time like this" John said shaking his head.  
"It is not a stupid song it's a classic, she just doesn't know music" he said not ashamed at all.  
"What song is it" James asked.  
"NWA- appetite for destruction" Joe said smirking as James laughed at the thought of Miranda and Liara's faces listening to the song.  
"Joseph go, now please before she castrates you and I'm down another man" John said annoyed.  
"You got it Johnny" Joe said running back to the shuttle having Cortez take him back to the Normandy.

"You coming Garrus" John asked his friend reloading his gun.  
Shepard get on that gun and push them back" Corinthus yelled as John did as he was asked taking out waves of husks until he was knocked off by a reaper repurposed krogan.  
"BRUTE" one of the turians yelled as Garrus and James jumped down to help John take down the brute giving him everything they had. They brought down the brute making their way to the Primarch only having to deal with a few husks. They then heard all hell breaking loose around the bank as John kicked it into to double time. They fought off husks, cannibals, marauders before three brutes emerged. John took them down with a Reaper Blackstar before meeting the Primarch informing him of his new status as he agreed to come along.

They got back to the ship as John rushed up to the AI core finding Adams, Miranda, and another crewman waiting by the door.  
"Where the hell is Joseph" he asked.  
"He's in there commander, we told him not to go but he wouldn't listen" Adams informed as the door opened and Joe emerged with scorch marks all over.  
"Oh Johnny, your gonna fucking love this" Joe said stepping to the side "EDI" he said with a smile.  
"Yes Dr. Shepard" she said stepping out in Dr. Eva's body.  
"EDI is that you" John said wide eyed.  
"Yes commander, did you need something" she asked.  
"How are you in Dr. Eva's body" he asked.  
"While I was retrieving the data it attempted to lock me out and hack into the Normandy, I had no choice but to assume direct control" she replied as Joe started laughing hysterically.  
"She did the Harbinger John, she did the Harbinger" he said still laughing exiting the room "I'm gonna hit the shower".  
"EDI, you planning on taking that body somewhere" he asked.  
"I can now accompany you on ground side missions if you deem it necessary commander" she told him.  
"Run some more diagnostics on it and we'll discuss taking it out later" he said.  
"Ok, I will now take this body up to the bridge, Joker will want to see it" she told him walking out of the room.  
"I think I need a drink" John said sitting on one of the beds in the med bay.  
"Before you do Specialist Traynor found something interesting that I agree we should check out, I'm going to go find your brother" Miranda said as she and John exited the room hearing really loud music coming from the men's bathroom.  
"How the hell did he get that over the comm in there" John said listening to the song bopping his head.  
"What the hell is he listening to" Miranda asked puzzled.  
"AC/DC- shoot to thrill, he never played any of this when you two were together" he asked looking at her like she had two heads.  
"Oh god no, you really think I would allow it" she said looking up at him.  
"Yeah...right well I'm going to see Traynor now, later Miranda" John said stepping into the elevator.  
She stood outside of the bathroom as the door opened and Joe emerged donning only a towel.  
"Why are you waiting for me to come out of the bathroom Miranda" he asked although the twisted look on her face told him everything. "Your mad about the comm thing right" he said walking past her into the life support room getting a few looks from some of the female crew who quickly diverted their attention in fear of being noticed by Miranda.  
"Joseph it was reckless and it was childish" she said tapping her foot.  
"Well Miranda I am reckless and childish, and the mission was still a success, so what's the complaining about" he said pulling fresh clothes out of his bag to wear.  
"Joseph what if something else was wrong, what if we were under attack by the reapers up here, you wouldn't know because you did something foolish like that" she said raising her voice.  
"So what you wanna kick my ass now mom, come on get it over with then, give me your best shot if it'll make you feel better but just please stop scolding me like a five year old, I'm getting tired of it" he said walking out of the room.  
"Don't you walk away from me Joseph Shepard we are going to talk about this" she said pulling him back into the room to prevent from causing a scene.  
"Miranda I don't wanna talk, you didn't wanna talk the other day, I don't wanna talk today, your walking around looking at me like I disgust you, like I did something wrong to you. Listen I'm really tired of it, just drop it please" he said walking out of the room.  
"Where are you going Joseph" she asked folding her arms.  
"Out", he yelled back to her stepping onto the elevator, he had to get away from her knowing that if he stayed near her too long what would happen.

He went down to the shuttle bay finding John and James having a little talk and a sparring match.  
"What's going on Cortez" Joe asked.  
"The commander is teaching Mr. Vega over there a lesson" he answered watching on.  
"Yeah I remember those days, but my lessons usually involved the entire crew taking bets on which of the Shepard brothers was gonna get their ass kicked by the other" he explained.  
"I would pay to see you two go at it" Steve said lighting up like a Christmas tree.  
"I'm sure it's on the extranet somewhere, we had a little spy on board with us that liked recording our fights", he told him thinking of Kasumi.  
"Really" Steve said walking away to his terminal to look up the fights.  
"Hey I get the winner" Joe yelled out to John who was now helping James up.  
"Hey you guys gotta come check this one out" Steve said to them laughing at whatever he was watching. They walked over to his terminal as he clicked on the vid reading the title.  
**_"Prison fighting champion Machine Gun Joseph Shepard and Savior of the Citadel Commander John Shepard get their asses handed to them by hot girlfriend's_**** posted by Inc.,** damn you Kasumi" Joe said as the video showed a pissed Miranda throwing warps at both of them while Kasumi sneakily approached both pairs getting dialogue. Cortez and James laughed hysterically at some of the comments made by both couples.  
"This is great stuff loco, I would pay to see you two go at it with the XO and the LC...fighting I mean" he clarified before getting hit by the Shepard brothers.  
"Miranda can't really take me, I let her beat the hell out of me most of the time" Joe said standing up straighter.  
"Is that right" Miranda said as they turned around finding her with a raised eyebrow tapping her foot.  
"Shit" Joe said putting his head down.  
"Sounds like a challenge, what do you think lieutenants" she asked.  
"Yes maam" they both replied.  
"Pussies" Joe muttered under his breath.  
"What do you say commander" she asked John.  
"I'm not getting in that as his brother, but as the commander of this ship I say kick his ass XO" John said before stepping out of the way for Joe and Miranda to take the floor.  
"You sure you wanna do this Miranda" Joe said taking his shirt off.  
"More than you know, I always felt you held back when fighting me...don't hold back" she said pulling her hair into a ponytail.  
"All right kids we got a show for you tonight in this corner we have Super Bad Ass, undefeated king of the illegal ring, Machine Gun Joseph Shepard", John introduced as the crew began cheering as more made their way down to see.  
"And in this corner we have The Deadly Deceptor, she'll kill you... and you'll like it, Mean Miranda Lawson-Shepard" John introduced as the crowd went wild for Miranda.  
"Give me 2,000 on Lawson" Garrus said sneakily to James.  
"I'll take that bet, Machine Gun is gonna kick her ass" James said.  
"Don't hold back Joseph" she said circling him.  
"Don't worry my love, I won't, you deserve every bit of this ass whipping your about to get" he said running at her as she dodged to the side taking him down. He swept her leg bringing her down with him preparing to drop an elbow on her as she rolled out of the way kicking him in the face. She stood up to throw another kick while he was down but he caught her leg lifting her in the air as high as he could slamming her down waiting for her to get up.  
"Come on sweetheart, come to daddy" he said smirking. She jumped up giving him a roundhouse bringing him to his knees.  
"Who's your daddy now" she said as he stood up and they began circling each other again.  
"Grissom Academy in 15 folks, Cerberus presence detected" Joker yelled over the comm.  
"Well looks like I need to finish this now" Joe said.  
"Go for it big man" she said as he quickly kicked into overdrive, bringing her down with a guillotine choke forcing her to tap out as he had her dead to rights. He released the hold pulling her up to his chest kissing her lips as she ran her fingers through his hair.  
"You two feel better now" John asked walking over to his family.  
"I don't know are we good Mrs. Shepard" Joe asked his wife.  
"Yes we're good Mr. Shepard" she said pulling him into a hug.  
"Well good get ready to go both of you, let's go save Jack's ass before she starts having too much fun murdering people again" John said as they all went to get their weapons ready.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

John stood in the cockpit with Joker confirming an entrance with Kahlee Sanders before heading down to the school in the shuttle. Cortez dropped him off with Miranda and Joe as they made their way into the facility, John threw a frag grenade at the four troopers trying to get into the control room Sanders was holed up in. They approached confirming their identity for Kahlee as she opened the door John went in to speak with her while Joe and Miranda watched the door. He ran back out quickly as they made their way to Orion Hall to save a group of students. They took out a few more Cerberus troops before making it to the room finding Jack fending off the Cerberus troopers.  
"Jack" John yelled out.  
"Shepard's" she replied before running over to shield a student from a blast by an Atlas mech. "Alright kids this thing's way out of your league, Shepard keep it off us" she said dashing out of the way as the team began assaulting the mech and surrounding troopers taking it out.  
"Kahlee said she was sending out an SOS, I had no idea the king of the boy scouts would show up, and you brought my favorite convict with you" she said jumping down walking over and punching John hard in the face.  
"Damnt Shepard how many times have I told you you can't trust Cerberus" she yelled.  
"I know Jack damnt, you got me pretty good" he said checking the damage.  
"And you" she said pointing at Joe scowling before turning into a grin.  
"Get over here you psychotic bitch" he said opening his arms as she jumped up on him hugging him. Miranda began to flare her biotics to remove Jack from her husband.  
"Relax cheerleader I'm not trying to fuck your boy toy anymore" Jack said jumping down.  
"Anymore" Miranda said raising an eyebrow at Joseph.  
"Me and Jack may have fucked a few times back in the day, all consensual I swear" he said fast rubbing the back of his neck.  
"Really, you acted like you didn't know her" Miranda said scowling.  
"The same way you acted like nothing ever happened between you and Jacob, please he's not as chivalrous as you think, we all knew about it" Joe said returning the scowl. "Get over yourself Miri we have kids to save" he said turning back to John and Jack.  
"Now that that's settled, we need to get my guys out of here" Jack said anxiously.  
"Your guys" John said raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah maybe your little suicide squad taught me something about teamwork" she said.  
"Well I couldn't think of anybody who could care about them more" John said sincerely.  
"Agreed, so what's so valuable about these kids ...biotically I mean" Joe said looking around at the kids.  
"What's worse than you, me, or cheerleader running around pissed off attacking...four or five of us working together" she informed.  
"Yeah that is pretty deadly" he said.  
"So you really think this will work, biotic hit squads" John asked.  
"It's great in theory" she answered.  
"But" John asked.  
"They'd be better as support putting up barriers and shit like that" she said.  
"Have you told them that" Joe asked.  
"No, they need me to believe in them, I don't know maybe some of your attitude rubbed off on me" she said looking at John.  
"Hey, it looks good on you", Joe said.  
"Cut it out before the cheerleader rips your balls off" Jack said looking over at Miranda who was burning holes in the back of Joe's head.  
"I didn't mean it that way" he replied to her turning to look at Miranda. "Babe you know I didn't mean it that way" he said to Miranda as she rolled her eyes at him.  
"Commander, Cerberus fighters are returning we have to get out of here" Cortez said over the radio.  
"How long do we have" John asked.  
"About ten minutes" he answered as John looked up at the kids realizing they weren't going to make it in ten minutes.  
"Alright get back to the Normandy, we'll find another way out" he said to Cortez clicking over his comm to Kahlee "Kahlee, we got the students, but the shuttle's a no go, you have another way off this station.  
"There may be some shuttles, I need camera wide access" she informed him as the team ran around getting her the access she needs. They went up the stairs into the room where the students were hearing a few whispers.  
'I'm not asking him you ask him" one of the students Prangley said to Rodriguez.  
"Fine I'll ask him, excuse me sir, with the tattoos, your name wouldn't happen to be Joseph Shepard would it" she said to Joe.  
"Uhhh yeah one in the same nice to meet you guys" Joe said.  
"Dude you are God" Prangley said to Joe.  
"Haha thanks I guess" Joe said shaking the kids hand.  
"Wow Machine Gun Joe Shepard is saving my life, this is awesome" another one of the male students said.  
"Haha Johnny I'm more famous amongst the kids than you", Joe said laughing.  
"Don't admire him children, Purgatory was a prison ship" Miranda said annoyed.  
"Hey, I was innocent and you know it" Joe said in his defense.  
"Whatever let's go", John said as they pulled Joe away from the kids heading down the stairs.  
"Jack we're going through down here to draw their fire, you and the kids follow from up top" John said.  
"Good plan, keeps em safe" Joe agreed.  
"Time your shots and stick to cover" John shouted at the kids.  
"Alright I didn't bust my ass training you for you to die now" Jack said.  
"Students of Grissom Academy, the alliance soldiers can't protect you, surrender immediately and you will not be harmed" a man's voice said into their comms.  
"Damnt he's tracking us through our comms, students switch your omni tool's to privacy mode, that way they can't track you" Sanders said.  
"What if he's not lying" Rodriguez said obviously scared.  
"I know first hand what Cerberus does to people they promise not to harm, the Illusive Man manipulated me through my fear, twisted my mind, and when I stopped believing in him made an attempt on my life and if you don't believe that take a good look at your teacher" Miranda addressed the scared students.  
"Take a good look Rodriguez, you see the scars, Cerberus did this to me when I was half your age, we're trying to save your asses" Jack said furiously.  
"Let's move", John said as everyone began to move out.  
They tore through Cerberus soldiers all the way to the shuttle bay where John began decimating them with a discarded Atlas mech. He was enjoying himself until it was time to go, they boarded the shuttle almost leaving Rodriguez behind. Jack bought her time shattering the glass between the shuttle bay sending the Cerberus soldier's back with a biotic blast. John offered to drop them off at the citadel as he wanted to visit Ashley before heading for the diplomatic meeting.

Back on board the ship Joe was barraged with requests for autographs and pictures from the kids which he kindly agreed to. While James was all over the place showing the footage of Joe and Miranda's fight. Resulting in him having to hide all over the ship from Miranda who didn't take kindly to it being posted on the extranet .  
"I hope you know she's gonna kill the shit out of you when she finds you" Joe said to James who was currently hiding under the table in the mess hall while Joe was sipping coffee.  
"Nah Joey, she'll never expect me to hide so close to you it's genius" James said listening for the clicking of heels.  
"James" Joe said calmly.  
"Yeah" he whispered up.  
"Miranda's a genius" he informed him taking another sip of his coffee kicking his feet up out of the way as Miranda drug James from under the table dragging him to the nearest terminal to take down the vid.  
"She's also a spy and assassin" Joe yelled as James and Miranda disappeared into the elevator.  
"Dumbass" Jack said walking over taking a seat across from Joe as she watched Miranda and James.  
"What's up Jenny" Joe said not looking up.  
"You tell me, I can't believe your still running around with the cheerleader after everything she did, and stop calling me that shit" Jack said looking at Joe.  
"Me neither, can't explain why and your real name is Jennifer so deal with it" he said still captivated in whatever he was doing with his omni tool.  
"Maybe because your a dumbass" she exclaimed.  
"Yeah that could be it, how's the teaching thing going" he asked her.  
"I like it, didn't think I would but the little fuckers grew on me" she said to him with a smile.  
"That's good it suits you" Joe said looking over at her "I like the hair too, very sexy" he said smirking at her.  
"Is that right" she said hopping across the table straddling his lap wrapping her arms around his neck." Remember this Joey" she said grinding her hips on him making him groan.  
"Jen what are you doing" he asked looking up at her.  
"What's the matter Joey, I thought you liked the way I felt on your lap, you know you miss it, how I would sit on your big dick, and fuck you like an animal all over the bottom of engineering, remember Joey" she said moving her hips around on him faster making him groan louder and slip into the memory.

**Past**  
**On the Normandy during the suicide mission**

_Jack and Joe were down in her hidey hole fucking like rabbits._  
_"Ohhhh fuck me motherfucker" she screamed as Joe pounded inside of her before she pushed him back on the cot she slept on and began riding him hard and fast._  
_"Ahhhhh fuck just like that" Joe said squeezing her ass._  
_"Mmmmm you fucking like that huh Shepard, you like that pussy on your big fat dick don't you baby" she moaned in his ear going faster as he held on tight kissing her scars._  
_"Mmmmm yes baby, don't stop cum on it all night long" he said thrusting up into her as she screamed releasing all over him as he kept thrusting up into her._  
_"Ohhhhh fuck you son of a bitch, fuck me in the ass" she yelled bending over._  
_"Mmmmm you so fucking nasty I fucking love it" he said before tounging down her ass and pussy real good making her scream out before he pushed himself into her back side._  
_"Ohhhhh fuck me daddy, fuck me harder make me your bitch fucker" she yelled taking Joe's big dick in her tight ass._  
_"Fuck, I'm gonna cum" Joe said gripping her shoulders ramming inside._  
_"Ohhhhh god cum in me bitch" she yelled out to Joe as proceeded to fuck her harder for that comment._

**Present**

"Jack you know I'm married to Miranda, you need to get up now" he said looking her in her eyes seriously.  
"Uggghhh what happened to you, your so boring now, come on I won't tell the cheerleader, we can go to my spot again" she said still in his lap kissing his ear.  
"I don't know, I'm just content with what I have now, it's a bad idea Jen I'm sorry" he answered.  
"If that's so then why haven't you moved yet" she said raising an eyebrow.  
"Good question, how about I do it now" he said standing up placing her on the table stepping back before walking from the mess hall to Liara's office. She was going to start probing his mind today for Miranda, whatever she found she would then transfer to Miranda.

"Miranda, put James down now please" John said watching the lieutenant float in the air crying like a ten year old.  
"Of course Commander", she said bringing him to a safe distance before dropping him to the ground.  
"Thank you Miranda, but we cannot attack alliance soldiers, is that understood" John said to her.  
"Yes Commander" she said scowling at James walking over to the elevator.  
"Ay dios mío, how the hell did Joseph tame that" James asked sitting up looking at John.  
"Miranda's not a woman to be tamed, she expects to be treated as either a superior or an equal, Joseph didn't treat her like either, they commanded each others respect and its all history from there" John said summarizing the story of Joe and Miranda.  
"She's a damn monster, how does something so beautiful have that much rage" James said rubbing his head.  
"Miranda's complicated, but she's a good person when you get to know her" John said defending his sister in law. "Besides she's Joseph's wife, we're kinda stuck with her" he joked before walking to the elevator.

"Relax Joseph, breathe, calm yourself...Embrace Eternity" Liara said as she dug through his memories looking for the right one, she was stopped by one he felt was significant.

**_2158_**

**_New York City, NY_**

_"Hannah I'm not happy, I'm leaving" Joseph Shepard Sr. said throwing his stuff in a bag._  
_"Joseph we have two kids together and you just walk away just like that after everything we've been through" Hannah Shepard said through tears._  
_"I'm sorry Hannah, I'll send you money" Joe Sr. said grabbing his bag walking out of the room to be met by his oldest son." Joey, what are you doing out of bed son" he asked his son walking over to him._  
_"Why are you leaving daddy" Joe asked his father._  
_"I have to son, your mom and I aren't working out I have to go away" he said looking down at his son who began to cry._  
_"You don't love us anymore, I hate you" little Joe said walking back to his room as his father stood there with no words._  
_"Joseph, I wasn't done speaking with you" Joe Sr. called out as his son turned to him giving him a cold stare from the crystal eyes they shared._  
_"What do you want Joseph, I don't need you to give me an excuse for why your abandoning your family, I'll never be like you" he said looking at his father who rushed over gripping him by his neck._  
_"Don't you ever dare disrespect me boy, I am your father, do you understand me" Joseph Shepard Sr. said choking his son whose cold gaze never left his face and he didn't beg or plead for his life as his father expected choking the life from his body. Hannah rushed out of the room hitting Joe in the back forcing him to drop their son and grab her giving her a back hand throwing her at the wall as his son got up running at him screaming about his mother. Joe Sr. threw Joseph at the other wall before picking his bags up leaving the house as Joe crawled over to his crying mother holding her rubbing her cheek as she cried._

**Present Day**

"Joseph try not to react to anything I touch, we will have to relive it if you do, relax" she said in his mind as they both shifted uncomfortably as tears rolled down his face, then she hit it.

**_2166 _**

**_Lawson Manor New York City, NY_**

_"Ahhh Joseph come I would like you to meet someone" Mr. Cavanaugh his computer science teacher said to him._  
_"Thanks for bringing me along sir, not often I get a chance to dress up (fucking monkey suit)" fifteen year old Joseph Shepard said walking with his teacher through the party past the guests._  
_"Joseph this is Henry Lawson, the richest man on earth, any field you can specialize in Mr. Lawson has a company that can use your expertise" he said to Joe._  
_"Mr. Lawson this is Joseph Shepard my top student, he can be considered a prodigy with a computer in his hands, you name it he can do it and under 20 seconds, he's also an amazing athlete and has an IQ of 210" Mr. Cavanaugh said giving Joe high praise._  
_"Interesting, an athlete and a scholar, I am indeed impressed pleasure to meet you Joseph (wow Henry Lawson, impressed with me)" Henry said extending his hand for Joe to shake examining him at the same time._  
_"Likewise Mr. Lawson sir" Joe said nervously Henry Lawson was his hero, he had everything Joe wanted, he even sometimes wished Henry was his father unlike the pathetic excuse for one he had._  
_"Joseph this is my daughter Miranda, Miranda say hello to Joseph" Henry said as Miranda walked over looking as beautiful as ever in a gorgeous black evening gown._  
_"Nice to meet you (oh my God she's beautiful)" Joe said blushing extending his hand to Miranda._  
_"Pleasure" she said not even looking at him placing her hand in his which he gently shook. "Father do I really have to be here" she said looking up at her father then over to Joseph stopping to notice the glistening of his eyes and the color before looking away quickly._  
_"Yes, you ungrateful child you have to be here, why can't you just enjoy yourself like everyone else" Henry said impatiently to his daughter._  
_"Maybe we should give you some privacy" Mr. Cavanaugh suggested._  
_"Nonsense Patrick, Miranda why don't you take Joseph to get a drink while I speak with Patrick for a moment" Henry suggested/ordered his daughter._  
_"Yes father, come" she said pulling Joe along by his hand._  
_"Uhhhh you don't have to do this, if he asks I'll lie and tell him you were very charming, but please release the death grip you have on my hand (fuck she's strong, just let go damnt)" he said feeling the friction that occurs when biotics touch each other._  
_"He wont believe you, there are cameras all over this place, he's probably watching as we speak" she informed him dragging him to the bar._  
_"Ok paranoid much" he said taking a seat at the bar as she sat next to him._  
_"Who are you" she asked staring him up and down._  
_"Joseph Shepard, high school student, computer genius, and star athlete you" he said looking at her ._  
_"Miranda Lawson, tortured daughter of Henry Lawson and that's not what I meant, my father always made boys disappear around me, yet he practically threw me at you, why" she asked accusingly._  
_"How would I know, I don't know your father, I was just told to show up here to accompany my teacher, maybe it's because I'm very handsome, look I told you you didn't have to stay near me if you didn't want to" Joe said becoming offended with her line of questioning._  
_"Good, see you later Joseph Shepard" she said walking away._  
_"Likewise Miranda Lawson (bitch)" he said not even looking at her._

"What happened, you broke the connection" Liara said looking at Joseph.  
"I'm not comfortable with where this is going" Joe said standing up.  
"Let's take a break we can resume later" Liara suggested.  
"Yeah sure" Joe said exiting the room quickly brushing past Miranda into the starboard observation deck.  
"Is he alright" Miranda asked Liara.  
"I do not know, everything was working but he severed the connection" Liara informed her. Miranda sat across from Liara as she shared everything she touched in Joseph's head with her.  
"I do not understand why that would make him uncomfortable" Liara said.  
"It's making him uncomfortable because he's remembering" Miranda said jumping up walking into the life support room she found Joseph sitting at the table with his head in his hands.  
"Joseph, what do you remember" she asked slowly advancing towards him.  
He jumped up backing away from her looking her up and down.  
"This isn't real" he said softly.  
"Joseph what are you talking about" she asked walking closer as he moved away again.  
"This, us, you don't really feel this way about me, Miranda you saw it you pretty much despised me before...before I don't know what happened" he said looking down.  
"Joseph, you didn't let Liara finish, that's why you don't know what happened next" she said cornering him to move closer.  
"Miranda don't, it's not real" he said dropping to the floor "It's not real".  
She walked over putting her arms around him holding him.  
"Joseph, I love you, this is real" she said grabbing his face making him look into her eye's.  
"I love you Joseph"  
"I love you too"  
"Lay down Joey, we'll try with Liara another time ok, no rush just don't push me away and I won't push you away either" she told him kissing his face.  
"Ok I won't" he said looking at her kissing her back.

**A/N: Everything in parenthesis is Joseph's personal thoughts.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

They arrived on the Citadel, John made his way up to Huerta Memorial to see Ashley. He spotted a familiar looking Drell standing by the window shadow boxing.  
"Thane" John said walking over.  
"Ahh Commander, good to see you" Thane said shaking John's hand.  
"What are you doing here" John asked.  
"I am in the final stages of keprals syndrome, I don't have much longer" he explained.  
"I'm sorry to hear that, I wish you could come with me" John said genuinely.  
"I would not be as I was Commander" he informed him.  
"I'm not asking you to tackle a reaper, I'm sure we could find something for you to do" John explained.  
"All the same I must stay here for my treatments" Thane said looking down. "What brings you here" he asked.  
"Ashley got hurt on Mars" John told him.  
"Ahhh Operations Chief Williams, they have her down as Lieutenant Commander Williams, she starts aerobics with my class next week", Thane said.  
"Yeah she recently got promoted", John said proudly for her.  
"I know she will not need it, but consider her under my protection" Thane said sincerely.  
"I appreciate it Thane, well I should go" John said standing up shaking his hand before walking back to see Ashley in conversation with Udina.

"I need an answer Lieutenant Commander Williams" Udina said impatiently.  
"You'll have one soon, I swear I just need a little more time" she said still badly bruised from her run in with the AI.  
Udina was leaving the room as John walked in, they acknowledged each other as Udina left and John pulled up a seat.  
"So you make your decision yet" he asked, Udina was pushing for her to recieve spectre status.  
"Not yet, still deciding" she answered.  
"Good, smart to give it some thought" he said in agreement with her consensus.  
"Yeah what about you, you ok" she asked him.  
"Yeah I'm good, got a meeting with the diplomats from the other races once I'm done here, but things are going ok , I got Garrus, Joe, and Miranda back" he informed her.  
"Wait a minute, you let your brother's Cerberus girlfriend board your ship" she asked in shock.  
"Ex Cerberus Ash, as in no longer with them and they're married in case you forgot" he said defensively.  
"How do you know she's not playing you again John, Joseph I can see being that he's playing hide the one eyed snake with her but you, you should be smarter John" Ashley said exasperated.  
"I didn't come here to fight with you Ashley, I came to make sure you were ok and spend some time with you, but I can see that was a mistake" he said getting up.  
"John wait, sit back down I have something to tell you" she said as he turned back sitting down.  
"What's wrong Ash" he said looking at her.  
"John... we have a son, he's six months old and his name is Matthew" she said looking at him for a reaction.  
He was stunned, shocked, and speechless.  
"When you were on the ship with me and we went to help Abby and you sent me away, that why" he asked looking at her.  
"Yes" she said looking down.  
"Why didn't you tell me" he asked softly.  
"I don't know John" she replied .  
"Can I see him or a picture or something please", he asked looking into her eye's as she sent him a picture of Matthew smiling from ear to ear.  
"He has my eyes", John said looking at the picture of his son. "Can I meet him" he asked hopefully.  
"I'll have my mom bring him the next time your on the citadel" she said.  
"Thank you Ashley" he said looking away.  
"Sure skipper" she said still looking down.  
"Do you still love me" he asked looking into her eyes.  
"Of course I do John" she said softly as he leaned in for a kiss that she reciprocated immediately.  
"I love you too Ash" he said rubbing her face softly."Alright I gotta go, I'll be back soon to check on you" he said getting up kissing her head leaving the room to take the elevator to go see Aria in Purgatory the club.

"I'm telling you for the eight hundredth time, Commander Shepard is no longer with Cerberus" Joe said becoming frustrated with Conrad Verner.  
"Yeah he is, I saw him a few months back on Illium and he was with Cerberus" Verner explained adamantly.  
"Jesus Christ, Vakarian get over here" Joe yelled out to Garrus.  
"What's the mat- oh spirits this guy again, I'll be right back" Garrus said walking away.

"Ok so let me get this straight the almighty Aria, queen of Omega, damn near thousand year old asari, was duped by the Illusive Man" John said in shock.  
"Yes" she replied through gritted teeth.  
"So you want me to get all these mercs in your pocket so you can retake Omega, what do I get out of this" he asked.  
"Well seeing as I won't need Omega if we don't defeat the reapers, it is in my interest to help you" she said sitting back in her seat.  
"Alright I'll see what I can do" he said getting up receiving a call from Garrus to get down to the lower docks immediately.

"Don't worry about this guy Shepard, come sit back and enjoy the show" Garrus said putting a talon on Joe's shoulder.  
"Wait, Shepard your his..."Conrad said wide eyed.  
"Yes, I'm his brother you fucking idiot" Joe said as John walked over.  
"What's going on here, Jesus Christ Conrad, what are you doing now" John asked his number one fan.  
"Uhhhh Commander I was just trying to get more people on board with us and Cerberus" Conrad said proudly.  
"Conrad I'm not with Cerberus, they're crazy terrorists" John said putting his hand on his head in exasperation.  
"He must be the one who sabotaged the medi gel dispensers down here" Garrus said.  
"What, no not me, I was just standing here waiting for my Cerberus recruiter" Conrad explained.  
"Cerberus recruiter, where is he Conrad" John asked as they all put up their guard.  
"Him, him right there" Conrad said pointing to the Cerberus sleeper agent. "Hey you, your under arrest you terrorist scum bag" Conrad shouted as the Cerberus agent revealed a pistol.  
"Gun, Johnny get down" Joe yelled as the agent fired on John and Conrad jumped in front of the bullet. Joe quickly took down the agent snapping his neck before walking over to check on Conrad.  
"Did I do good" Conrad whispered up to John.  
"Yeah Conrad you did real good buddy" John said.  
"DUDE, get the hell up idiot you didn't get shot, his gun jammed" Joe said shaking his head before walking away.  
"That would be me, hey commander thanks for getting me out of Chora's Den" said Jenna the ex waitress.  
"I'm alive" Conrad asked.  
"Yes Conrad, your alive" John said standing up leaving Conrad with Jenna catching up with Joe.

"Joey I need you to help me out with a few things" John said catching his brother throwing an arm over his shoulder.  
"Sure, what do you need me to do" Joe said.  
"See that guy over there" John asked pointing to a bald guy standing at the end of the docking bay.  
"Yeah I see him" Joe said.  
"His name is Darner Vosque, go over there and have a talk with him make sure he's ready to help Aria out when she says.  
"Can I use brute force?" Joe asked expectantly.  
"Sure buddy whatever you deem necessary" John said before walking over to meet Sayn the Eclipse representative.

"Hey you hey, you have the time buddy", Joe said walking over to Vosque.  
"Uh yeah its-" he was cut off by Joe's arm around his neck as Joe pushed something in the back of his head, he felt it crawl it's way in.  
"What the hell did you do to me" Vosque asked rubbing the back of his head.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, what I just placed in the back of your head is an electronic IED triggered to Aria's omni tool, you fuck with her she pushes a button you die. She dies I push a button you die. I die my wife pushes a button you die, you get what I'm saying right no matter what you do you die unless you get in line and follow orders. We're not fucking around here, so get your little band of blue bitches together and do what the fuck your told, is that understood" Joe said to Vosque.  
"Yeah, yeah I understand" he replied.  
"Oh yeah you tamper with that your dead, only way that comes out of your head is if Aria wants it out" Joe said walking away to meet back up with John.

"Men get ready" Sayn said.  
"Relax Sayn I'm not here to threaten you, I'm here to talk about Jona Sideris" John said as Sayn relaxed.  
"Oh your the one getting her out, it was my plan" he said.  
"Yeah I get it, we get Sideris out and then you kill her" John said.  
"What no-" he tried to reply.  
"Come on Sayn, only the strong survive get rid of Sideris then you take control for yourself" John said suggestively.  
"Yeah your right, glad I thought of it" Sayn said going along with John.  
"Good choice, buddy" John said walking away to meet Joseph.

"Did you really put an IED in his head" John said shocked.  
"Yup sure did, I didn't like his face, didn't seem reasonable so I got him through brute force, you told me it was ok" Joe said nonchalantly eating an ice cream cone.  
"It's fine Joey just a little disturbed that you carry IED's on you so freely", John said walking several feet away from his brother.  
"Relax John, I know what I'm doing, I'm not gonna kill us, besides my super sexy super smart wife double checks them before I take them out" Joe said confidently.  
"Miranda approves of this", John asked.  
"It was her idea, actually she just needed me to build them" Joe said.  
"I should have sent you to help with the crucible" John said seriously.  
"Johnny you know I'm not a people person, I frighten them" Joe informed him.  
"Whatever you say, I gotta go see about the blood pack meet you back on the ship" John said before breaking off from his brother.

Joe got back on the ship and went to Liara's office where she and Miranda were waiting for him.  
"Are you ready to try again Joseph" Liara asked him.  
"Let's do it" he said sitting down grabbing Miranda's hand.  
"Ok Joseph relax, close your eyes, breathe...Embrace Eternity" she said with her hands on his head beginning to sift through the memories as Joseph reacted to one of he and Miranda.

**_2185 Illium_**

_"Joseph where are you taking me" Miranda said as they made their way through the city hand in hand._  
_"It's a surprise now hush and be surprised ok (how the hell did I get this lucky)" he said smiling at her in her beautiful black dress. _  
_"Joseph you know I don't particularly care for surprises" she said taking in the surroundings._  
_"Well your gonna love this one" he said grinning at her as they approached the opera house._  
_"Your taking me to an opera, Joseph you hate classical music" she said looking up at him._  
_"But I love you (with all my heart) and you love classical music, so yes I will suffer through this for you (the things I put myself through to make this woman happy, well worth it) now come on we're running late" he said as they entered the opera house finding their seats._  
_"How did you get these seats Joseph" Miranda said enjoying the comfort of the box seats they had._  
_"Friend of a friend of a friend owed me a favor (damn near died for these tickets)" he said as she leaned over to kiss his cheek as the opera started and they sat back to enjoy (definitely getting laid ton_**_ight yesss)_**_._

**Present Day**  
_"_Joseph you have to focus and relax" Liara said maintaining the connection as she sifted through his memories further before hitting the desired one.

**_2166_**  
**_Lawson Manor New York City, NY_**

_"Joseph where's Miranda" Henry Lawson said coming up behind Joseph putting a hand on his shoulder._  
_"Uhhhh I don't think she's interested sir (you raised a cold hearted bitch)" Joe said shyly._  
_"Oh nonsense son you just aren't trying hard enough, I raised my daughter with high expectations, she'll settle for nothing less, there she is over there go and ask her to dance, she loves dancing (I'd rather not)" Henry said smiling at Joe._  
_"Ok sir, if you insist" Joe said getting up walking to Miranda._  
_"Hey, you wanna dance (please say no)" he asked her._  
_"You can dance to this" she said raising an eyebrow._  
_"Come find out" he said extending a hand to her with a smile._  
_"Alright, but don't you dare embarrass me" she threatened._  
_"No, you don't embarrass me (I got something for you)" he said pulling her in with a spin as they began dancing a perfect waltz._  
_"Well this is unexpected" she said as they moved like air across the floor._  
_"You expected anything less" he asked._  
_"Honestly yes" she answered as he dipped her._  
_"Why is that?" He asked curiously_  
_"The way you walk, the way you talk, the way you shift uncomfortably in that tux, your presence screams I live in the worst part of this city, your not used to high society (damn she's good)" she said making a positive observation._  
_"Very good I'm impressed now my turn, you hate your father obviously, you've never made a single choice of your own in your life, you wanna get away but you don't know how you would survive without daddy's money because you are indeed used to the lifestyle he provides, your afraid to take a chance, and that will be your biggest regret (yeah I can do it too)" he said pulling her to him as their lips almost touched finishing the dance._  
_"Would you take me away from here" she asked still close to him._  
_"And give you what, I have nothing to offer you but a rundown apartment I share with my red sand addict best friend because I refuse to live with my red sand addict mother (she's beautiful too beautiful)" he told her._  
_"You could run with me" she said in his ear._  
_"I can't do that, I have a lot of people who need me here (he needs me, I can't abandon him, I can't leave my mother she won't make it without me)" he said looking down._  
_"I see, and I understand" she said thinking of Oriana, she feared what would happen to her if she left._  
_"If your mind tells you you should run, then you should, your first instinct is usually correct (I'm sorry I can only offer you advice and guidance)" he said into her ear inhaling her scent._  
_"Drinks Ms. Lawson" a waiter said bringing two glasses for Joe and Miranda. They both took the glasses sipping the drink inside then Joe began feeling a warm sensation travel through his body he looked at Miranda and could tell she was feeling the same way. Joe couldn't stop himself from grabbing Miranda and kissing her deeply and she didn't pull away wrapping her arms around his neck._

"Joseph what's wrong" Liara said breaking the connection.  
"I need a break, that was a rush I could feel everything, it was like being there in the flesh again. I need a drink" he said exiting the room going for the lounge.  
"What did he see", Miranda asked.  
"Come, I will show you", Liara said melding with Miranda sharing the memory with her.

John stepped into the lounge sitting next to his brother who was smoking a cigarette.  
"I thought you quit" John said slapping his brother on the back.  
"I did until Liara started fucking with my mind making me remember shit, I didn't want to" he said taking a sip of his drink.  
"What happened" John asked looking at Joe pouring himself a drink.  
"I think Miranda took my virginity" he said muffled.  
"I'm sorry I didn't catch that" John said honestly.  
"SHE WAS MY FIRST JOHN" Joe yelled.  
"First what" he asked.  
"John you can't really be that dumb" Joe said staring at him  
"Oooh that first" he said "What's wrong with that" John asked.  
"I don't remember it happening and neither does she which makes it rape John" he said shaking his head lighting another cigarette.  
"Joseph, I'm sure she won't look at it that way you guys are gonna be fine" he said reassuring his brother of Miranda's love.  
"I hope so, she may wanna chop my balls off after the next session" Joe said looking down.  
"Hey man I'll tell you something nobody knows, Ash was my first" he admitted shyly.  
"John I already knew that" he said.  
"What, how" he asked really puzzled how his brother found out.  
"John if you weren't a virgin before you met that girl then I would have never had a shot at Miranda. Then Jack was running around the ship throwing pussy at everybody that wasn't Cerberus, I think we all fucked Kelly except for Mordin, and don't forget sweet innocent Tali, who was definitely in love with captain Johnny, women love blue eyes man, like Paul Walker" he said laughing at his brother's lack of knowledge with women.  
"Really where was I" John said.  
"Somewhere obviously stuck on Ashley, oblivious to all the female attention on the ship you were getting", Joe said laughing.  
"Damn, I never noticed" he said.  
"Of course you didn't, that's my fault I should have taught you all these things then maybe you wouldn't have been a 29 year old virgin" Joe said looking at his brother.  
"I have a son Joe" John told him staring off into space.  
"Haha, I knew it hey EDI" Joe yelled out.  
"Yes Dr. Shepard" she replied.  
"Tell Miranda she owes me a lap dance, she'll know what it means" he said laughing joyously "Congratulations John really I'm happy for you, you got any photos" he asked.  
"Yeah" John said showing the picture of Matthew proudly " she named him Matthew" John told his brother as Joe refilled their glasses.  
"Wow man he's beautiful, to our children, may they live in a world free of reapers" Joe said bringing his glass up for a toast.  
"Salud" John said touching glasses.  
"JOSEPH MICHAEL SHEPARD JR."they heard Miranda yell from inside the room.  
"Oh shit she said the Jr. quick hide me John, whenever she calls me Jr. a slam or a warp isn't far behind it" Joe said beginning to panic.  
"Quick dash into the elevator and go up to my cabin" John said thinking on his toes. "Ready GO" John yelled as Joe dashed through the door catching a glimpse of an angry Miranda glowing blue. She was closing in as he did a baseball slide into the elevator while hitting the button to close the door hoping she wouldn't use the XO override to bring it back down. He was literally in the elevator praying for it to drop him off in John's cabin. The doors opened to reveal John's room as he dashed in apologizing to EDI bringing up his omni-tool hacking the door protocols to only open on John's command.  
"EDI, why is she pissed at me" he asked.  
"I believe it was something she discovered while melding with Dr. T'Soni" she answered.  
"Ok so it wasn't the lap dance comment" he asked.  
"No Joseph it was not"EDI replied.  
"Ok EDI I'm sorry again about what I'm going to do next, but I have to hack you again sweetheart" he said apologetically.  
"Very well Joseph, good luck" she said knowing her programming would naturally create walls and barriers for him to have to get through. He sat at John's terminal hacking the comms and camera feeds.  
"Miranda why are you trying to kill me" he said to Miranda who was pacing through the shuttle bay pissed scaring the shit out of Vega and Cortez.  
"Joseph you know very well why I'm GOING to kill you" she said furiously.  
"No I don't, what did I do this time" he asked.  
"You fucked that bald bitch down in her hidey hole, that's what you did you bastard" she screamed as the crewmen listened in to the show between the XO and her husband.  
"Your talking about Jack, Miranda that was before anything ever happened between you and I, I ended that immediately after that day on the citadel" he explained.  
"You put your cock in her disgusting ass hole Joseph, she was filthy, your almost ten years older than her god it's disgusting, and then she straddles you in the mess hall the other day, all over you and you don't think to tell me" she screamed at him getting madder by the second.  
"I wanna talk about this like adults but I'll only come out if you promise not to attack me" he said.  
"Fine Joseph" she said anger seeping off her.  
"Ok I'm coming down" Joe said as he released control of EDI.

He stepped into the shuttle bay ten minutes later cautiously walking over to Miranda flaring his biotics prepared to defend himself.  
"Miranda" he said as her back was turned to him.  
"Joseph" she turned looking at him with disgust.  
"Ok you wanna talk here in front of all these guys" he asked.  
"No, how about we go down to Jack's hidey hole, you seem to like it down there as well, I knew she was a little too gung ho for you on that collector base" she said remembering how the two were acting that day.  
"Miranda, it happened before us, are you going to crucify me for every woman I've fucked" he said becoming annoyed with her.  
"No just the dirty whores, you ass fuck" she said taking a jab at him.  
"If I remember you have a past too Miranda, don't hold back right" he sent back at her referring to her little online rendezvous' and the wild things they did in the bedroom.  
"Fuck you Joseph, you son of a bitch" she said throwing a warp at him that he easily harnessed turning it into nothing.  
"That ones free the next ones gonna cost you" he said cooly before cracking his neck looking into her eyes. "So Liara's been reporting everything she sees, I wonder who told her that was ok", he said looking his wife in the eyes before walking away.  
"Don't you walk away from me Joseph Shepard" she said following him into the elevator.  
"Miranda you took advantage of my vulnerability for your own benefit, I trusted you and Liara and you both violated me" he said stepping out of the elevator to the crew deck walking into the starboard observation deck.  
"Joseph if you had been honest about it in the first place we wouldn't even be here" she said.  
"No we're here because you have fucking daddy issues that you need to let go of, I have issues that I haven't resolved with my father too but you don't see me running around like a spoiled fucking brat" he said receiving a sharp right fist across his face looking into her eyes coldly before walking out of the room.  
"Shit, Joseph I'm sorry" she yelled to him as he stepped into the elevator putting his fist into the plating leaving a dent glaring at her shaking his head no as the doors closed.  
"Please do not do that Dr. Shepard" EDI said watching him let out his frustration into the elevator.  
"Sorry EDI" he said angrily.

"Joseph why are you and Miranda causing so much fucking chaos on this ship when you know we're a day away from the damn meeting" John yelled to his brother.  
"I'm sorry John" Joe said hanging his head in shame for the antics between him and Miranda .  
"Now what the fuck happened" John asked.  
"She fucking hit me John, I mean really hit me, Rikers Island first time meeting hit me" he said noticing a bruise begin to form on his cheek.  
"Ok you two stay a deck apart until this meeting is over, is that understood" John said giving his brother a direct order.  
"Sure John whatever you say" Joe said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"John your not going down there in BDU's put on your dress uniform", Joe said looking at his brother.  
"Really I don't think it's going to matter" he said.  
"John your representing the entire human race today, be respectful put on the dress uniform, it looks more authoritative" Joe said arguing strongly.  
"Alright fine pass it to me I gotta speak to the Asari councillor, she's waiting for me down in the war room" John said quickly slipping into the uniform.  
"Good now you look like Commander fucking Shepard" Joe said admiring the uniform.  
"Alright let's go" John said as he and Joe stepped into the elevator going down to the CIC.

"Commander I'm sorry there is too much bad blood between the Krogan and the Salarians" Councillor Tevos said.  
"Councillor I understand that, but we need Krogan support against the reapers" John explained.  
"All the same the Asari will not be at your war summit" she informed him "I'm sorry commander" she said before the feed disconnected.  
"She's gonna regret that move before the end of this war" Joe said from outside of the room.  
"I hope not, for the innocent Asari who didn't even get a say" John said shaking his head.  
"Don't worry about it John come on you got another meeting to get to" Joe said throwing his arm around John pulling him from the room to the CIC where they waited for the diplomats to arrive.  
Dalatrass Linron arrived first with her personal guard.  
"Welcome Dalatrass, I'm Miranda Lawson XO of the Normandy here to escort you to the briefing room, but I'll ask that your guards remain here with Commander Shepard's and Primarch Victus'" Miranda introduced kindly.  
"I will absolutely not step into a room with a Krogan without my guards" Linron said.  
"Maam I'm afraid you don't have a choice unless you would like to turn around and exit this ship" Miranda said folding her arms not budging. "No one else will have guards in the room this is strictly a diplomatic meeting Dalatrass, now you can either leave your guards here and join the others or you can take your team and go" Miranda said firmly.  
"Your wife is very commanding Machine Gun" James whispered to Joe as they were standing as John's personal guard.  
"Yeah man she can handle a boardroom and a pistol like you and I can simply lift a cup, it's natural to her" Joe explained to James.  
"Impressive and very intimidating" Garrus whispered over as he was standing as Victus'guard.  
"Bow-tie, coward" Joe said narrowing his eyes at Garrus.  
"What'd I miss" James asked.  
"Later Jim" Joe said watching Miranda back the Dalatrass into a verbal corner as she begrudgingly agreed to leave her five guards with the others as Wrex arrived to come on board. He arrived with no guards and full of confidence.  
"Sheeeppppaaaaarrrddd" he yelled to Joe walking over to shake Joe's hand.  
"Urdnot Wrex, pleasure to see you again" Joe said shaking his hand trying to remain professional in front of the Salarian guards as Wrex got the hint.  
"Right, where's this damn thing being held, haven't been in this ship before" he said honestly.  
"Urdnot Wrex if you will" Miranda said beckoning him to follow her to the briefing room.  
She came back out calling Joe and James into the cockpit with her.  
"If these Salarian's try anything you are to destroy them and quickly" she said so only they could hear it.  
"Yes maam" James said saluting walking back to the designated area discreetly informing Garrus of the plan.  
"Joseph...stay" she ordered her husband walking over to him touching the bruise she left on his face placing her head on his chest. "I'm sorry Joey" she whispered.  
"It's fine, I'm a big boy, I can take a hit" he said.  
"Come here" she said with her hands on his face as he leaned in to receive quick pecks on his lips from her as her arms went around his neck holding him tight while he wrapped his around her waist holding her close.  
"Ok, will you need anything else XO" he said smirking at her releasing the embrace.  
"No, for now, but we will discuss this Jack situation later" she said releasing him as he went back into the room with the others.

"Those are my people, they are immune to the genophage and I want them back" Wrex yelled out. He had just revealed the Salarians had been holding several female Krogan who were immune to the genophage hostage.  
"Dalatrass is this true" Victus asked.  
"Dalatrass give it up we need the Krogan, how long do you think the Salarians will survive without any help" John asked.  
"And I will be the last friendly Turian you see" Victus said.  
"The females are being kept in an STG base on Surkesh" she said as the others rushed out the room to prepare for the op. "I warn you commander a bully has few friends when he needs them most" she shouted after him as he ignored her exiting the room.  
"Joseph, come", he yelled as they jumped in the elevator down to the shuttle bay.  
"Good to be working with you again Shepard" Wrex said looking at his friend shaking his hand.  
"Always fun Wrex" John said grinning.  
"What's going on", Joe asked.  
"Salarians been holding female Krogan hostage, we're going to pick them up" John explained.  
"Will I get to kill anyone" Joe asked.  
"Ha knowing these shady Salarians you most likely will" Wrex said as they exited the elevator.  
"Commander the Dalatrass has disembarked" EDI said.  
"Thanks EDI, send James, Garrus, and Miranda down here immediately" he ordered.  
"Yes Commander" she replied.  
"So what's the plan" Joe asked.  
"Simple pick up, hopefully we won't need to discharge our weapons" John explained.  
"Ok if you say so" Joe replied knowing better.  
"I'm bringing you, James and Garrus down with me, Garrus you'll continue to be Victus' personal guard also overseeing the transaction, Wrex try not to start a diplomatic war please I know how you feel about Salarians" John said looking at his friend putting the last of his armor on.  
"No promises Shepard, but I'll try" he said as they boarded the shuttle.  
"Miranda your in charge, if this goes sideways get the hell out of here, I don't trust the Dalatrass" John said to her as Joe leaned out of the shuttle blowing her a kiss.  
"You still mating with her Shepard" Wrex asked Joe.  
"Worse, I married her" he said turning to Wrex.  
"So she's like your bond mate" he asked.  
"Yeah if that's what you wanna call it" Joe said shrugging his shoulders.  
"You humans are strange" Wrex said gripping his shotgun.

"Commander I got an incoming transmission from the STG base, says we're not allowed to land" Cortez informed him.  
"I knew those dirty lizards wouldn't hold up their end of the deal" Wrex said getting angry "Let's see them stop a Krogan air drop" Wrex said jumping from the shuttle.  
"Wrex NO" John yelled as he and the others jumped down to see Wrex being locked by Salarian snipers.  
"Hold your fire hold your fire, I'm sorry commander we just received word of your clearance" a Salarian ran over saying.  
"We've got approval from the Dalatrass to extract the female Krogan" John said.  
"Yes, I'm Paddok Wiks, I'll be escorting you, but we request that your friend stay here " he said referring to Wrex.  
"No deal" Wrex said defiantly.  
"Wrex, I can handle this" John said calming his friend.  
"Alright Shepard, but if anything goes wrong it's on you" Wrex said to his friend.  
John followed Paddok through the facility until he left John to investigate further.  
"Commander Shepard pleased to see you again" said Mordin Solus approaching the team.  
"Mordin what are you doing here, are you back with the STG" John asked excited to see his old team member.  
"Yes, heard about Krogan, came as quickly as I could...also tipped off clan Urdnot about female Krogan" he whispered to John.  
"So your Wrex's inside source" John said looking at Mordin.  
"Yes, out of seven only one survived, had her strapped down, removed restraints, asked me to help her...she said...please" he informed John.  
"Ok we have to get her out of here" John said as the power to the facility shut down." What's going on" he asked.  
"Temporary power failure must move quickly go and speak to Krogan, not like normal Krogan" Mordin said running over to a terminal as John walked over to the female Krogan examining her.  
"Are you here to kill me" she asked.  
"Kill her" James said puzzled by the question.  
"I'm Commander Shepard, I'm a friend of Urdnot Wrex, I'm here to take you home" John said reassuring the Krogan. "Release her" John said to a nearby Salarian.  
"I can't, not while we're in security lockd-" he stopped receiving a neural shock from Mordin.  
"Noticed, please release Krogan now",Mordin said as the Salarian complied.  
Mordin hopped in the side of the lift to keep the Krogan stabilized as John and the team prepared to move. They approached the elevator as it opened revealing a bomb.  
"Move" he yelled as they all dodged out of the way of the bomb.  
"What the fuck is going on here, I thought this was supposed to be a simple pick up" Joe said getting up.  
"Commander that elevator over there will take you up" Paddok Wiks informed them as they moved to the lift.  
"Shepard I got Cerberus all over the place out here get the females out of there" Wrex said.  
"Female Wrex, only one survived" John replied.  
"If she dies the deal is off Shepard" Wrex said.  
"Fuck, come on we need to make sure that Krogan lives" John said pushing forward as they gunned down Cerberus troops.  
"How do you think Cerberus found out about this place" James asked as they kept killing and pushing forward.  
"My money's on that bitch of a Dalatrass, this seems like some underhanded shit she would do" Joe exclaimed.  
"I agree" Garrus chimed in taking out another Cerberus soldier "scoped and dropped"  
They cleared the Krogan through the final checkpoint as an Atlas mech dropped from the sky.  
"Oh this fucking day just gets better and better" Joe said dodging behind cover.  
"Door jammed, can't get out" Mordin said trying to get out to help the team deal with the mech.  
"Joe can you pull a Jack on that thing" John asked shooting the surrounding Cerberus soldiers.  
"You mean like purgatory" he asked.  
"Yeah, just like purgatory" John said "tear that shit to pieces".  
"I'll try, keep the soldiers off me" Joe said charging his biotic power until appearing that blue he had the day Samara had to reave him. He jumped up running at the mech full steam ahead hitting it with biotic charge after biotic charge, tearing it and it's user to pieces like John asked. Stepping back covered in the blood of the Cerberus soldier turning to his brother, eye's still glowing.  
"Joseph are you ok" John asked looking at his brother worried.  
"Yeah, I'm fine Johnny" he said looking at his brother speaking in a cold manner.  
"Joseph your eye's are still glowing" John said examining his brother.  
"I'm fine let's go" Joe said jumping in the shuttle sitting in the far corner closing his eyes.  
John and the rest of the group boarded with everyone who saw what happened taking glances at the oddly quiet Joseph Shepard.

Upon arriving back on board the Normandy Joe went straight to Liara's room sealing the door behind him.  
"Joseph are you ok, what happened down there" Liara said looking at him covered in blood.  
"Liara can you reave" he asked her with his eyes still closed.  
"Yes, why" she said looking at him confused.  
"Ok don't freak out, I need you to reave me" he said seriously.  
"Joseph are you crazy, no" she said putting her foot down.  
"Liara please" he said opening his eyes so she could see the glowing blue.  
"By the goddess, how are you able to do that" she said examining his eyes carefully.  
"I don't know, just make it stop please" he begged.  
"Ok Joseph, this is going to hurt" she told him flaring her biotics performing a reave draining the power from him as he dropped to his knees catching his breath.  
"By the goddess, this feels amazing" Liara said feeling Joseph's power course through her.  
"I've been told it does" he said standing up dragging himself out of the office falling into the arms of James Vega.  
"Whoa, Joey you don't look too good man" James said holding him up.  
"Med bay... Chakwas" Joe struggled out as James carried him to the room placing him on the table.  
"What happened" Chakwas asked James jumping up to see about Joseph.  
"I don't know, he kinda stepped outta Blue's office this way" he told her.  
"Joseph can you hear me" Chakwas said placing an oxygen mask over his face. "Get Miranda up here now" Chakwas yelled as James ran to find the XO before deciding to just asking EDI to alert her.

John was in the war room debriefing with Wrex, Victus, Mordin, Garrus, and Miranda as EDI called.  
"XO Shepard, your presence is required in the medical lab, it is an emergency" EDI said.  
"What's wrong EDI" John asked.  
"There is something wrong with Dr. Shepard" she said as John and Miranda sprinted to the elevator.  
"Lying bastard, I'm gonna kick his ass" John said angrily.  
"What the hell happened down there Commander" Miranda asked.  
John recounted the tale to Miranda as she began getting angry.  
"Damnt I told him to never harness that much power again, John when I fixed Joseph, I discovered a few things" she said as they stepped off the lift walking towards the starboard observation room as she walked in grabbing a small bag.  
"Like what" John asked watching her.  
"Joseph's biotics work against him, when he uses them within reason he's fine, but when he charges them they begin to fry his brain" Miranda said entering the med bay walking over to her husband cleaning his arm good reaching for the bag she brought in with her. "So because I know Joseph is hard headed I created a neural agent to halt the effects, I'm still working on a permanent solution" she said sticking a syringe in his arm as his breathing and heart rate began relaxing. "When this war is over he is done fighting, do you understand me, don't you ever call him for help of this nature again, I don't care if Harbinger knocks on your front door, I refuse to watch his willingness to do anything for you kill him, and that's exactly what's happening if you don't see it, release him from this hold you have on him" she said walking over to Joe placing a kiss on his head before walking out of the room, leaving John and everyone else in shock of what she just said. John followed her out of the room furiously into the starboard observation room.  
"Excuse me XO Lawson" he said the last name with defiance. "That's my brother do you understand, I've been in his life for a long damn time before you even showed up, and once you fix this little head thing your sick ass twisted ass fucked up father did to you two and you decide to leave, I'm still gonna be his fucking brother. You get that fucking picture I'll still be here so don't you ever shoot his love for me back in my face, it didn't come out of a bottle" he said looking her up and down disgusted before exiting the room leaving her stuck in deep thought.


End file.
